Google is expected to sell 9.6 million Nexus tablets next year, lower than previous forecasts.

Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson originally predicted the internet search giant would shift as many as 14.6 million next year, but reduced his estimate due to slow sales of the Nexus 7 tablet.

After only entering the tablet space last summer, Wilson expects Google to continue challenging market rivals, although acknowledges the dominance of Apple related products and the emerging power of Amazon and other tech companies.

With Wilson estimating the Nexus 7 to sell four million units by the end of 2012, Google manufacturer Asus says the device is now selling one million in monthly sales, up from the original 500,000 since the launch.

Yet the market continues to be competitive, with Apple ordering 10 million iPad Minis from Asian suppliers in early October, more than double as many products as Amazon’s lower-priced Kindle Fire.

And only two days ago Samsung announced they have sold over five million Galaxy Note II products, setting a cumulative global sales record for three months.

Released five months ago, the device passed three million sales earlier this month, representing over two million sales during November alone.

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